Top Colleges and Universities in Philippines 2018

Posted on May 16, 2018

The following is a list of the top colleges and universities in the Philippines. If you are having difficulty choosing a college or university to go to and Manila may or may not be the location you want to study in, this list may help you. (Though it may be apparent that Manila has some of the top universities in the Philippines) The colleges and universities on this list have had the highest overall performance in board exam results, partnerships, accreditation, and courses offered.

1. University of the Philippines Diliman (Metro Manila)

The University of the Philippines Diliman (also referred to as UPD, UP Diliman, or simply UP) is a coeducational, research state university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. It was established on February 12, 1949 as the flagship campus and seat of administration of the University of the Philippines System, the national university of the Philippines. UP Diliman is the fourth oldest constituent university of UP. It has consistently ranked first in government-backed polls on the most significant higher education school in the entire Philippines. It has been ranked between the 60-75 bracket in the best universities in Asia list.

It is the largest constituent university in the University of the Philippines System in terms of number of degree-granting academic units, student population, faculty, and library resources. There are 27 degree-granting units on campus, accounting for 22,031 students of which, 15,299 are undergraduates. UP Diliman had a complement of 1,526 full-time faculty in 2012, of whom 528 have doctoral degrees.

In addition to the units in the main campus, UP Diliman has extension programs in Pampanga and Olongapo City as well as a marine laboratory in Bolinao, Pangasinan under The Marine Science Institute, and an annex campus at Bonifacio Global City, a financial district in the city of Taguig. UP Diliman offers academic programs in 247 major fields. There were 70 programs at the undergraduate level, 109 at the master’s level and 68 at the doctoral level.

The UP Diliman campus is also the site of the country's National Science Complex. Notable research units of UP Diliman centered at the National Science Complex include the Marine Science Institute (MSI), the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS), the National Institute of Physics (NIP), the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology-Diliman (NIMBB-Diliman), and the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (NISMED), which are all pioneers of scientific research and development in the Philippines. The Sentro ng Wikang Filipino-Diliman is devoted to research on the intellectualization of the Filipino language.

UP Diliman holds the strongest reputation in the Philippines as the #1 ranking university. It is considered a badge of honor and a status of honor and excellence to be a graduate from University of the Philippines' Diliman campus.

2. University of the Philippines Los Banos (Laguna)

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (also referred to as UPLB, UP Los Baños, or colloquially, Elbi) is a public university located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay in the province of Laguna, some 64 kilometers southeast of Manila. It traces its roots to the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA), which was founded in 1909 by the American colonial government to promote agricultural education and research in the Philippines. American botanist Edwin Copeland served as its first dean. UPLB was formally established in 1972 following the union of UPCA with four other Los Baños and Diliman-based University of the Philippines (UP) units.

The university has played an influential role in Asian agriculture and biotechnology due to its pioneering efforts in plant breeding and bioengineering, particularly in the development of high-yielding and pest-resistant crops. In recognition of its work, it was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1977. Nine research centers are recognized as Centers of Excellence by presidential decree. UPLB hosts a number of local and international research centers, including the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, World Agroforestry Centre, and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture(SEARCA).

3. Ateneo de Manila University (Metro Manila)

The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila; Spanish: Universidad Ateneo de Manila) is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines. Ateneo offers elementary and secondary education exclusively to male students (and has recently opened the Senior High School to girls). The undergraduate and graduate programmes are coeducational and organized into four schools, collectively known as the Loyola Schools, which are located at its main campus at Loyola Heights. Four professional schools occupy campuses in different parts of Metro Manila.

Ateneo undergraduates follow a Catholic-rooted liberal arts curriculum throughout their programs in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, or Business Management. The Commission on Higher Education has recognized its units in biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, information technology, entrepreneurship education, English literature, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and business administration as Centers of Excellence while the communication, electronics engineering, environmental science, history, Filipino literature, and political science units have been declared Centers of Development. The Loyola Heights campus also hosts two chemistry research centers: Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC) and National Chemistry Instrumentation Center (NCIC).

4. University of the Philippines Manila (Metro Manila)

The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) is a state-related medical and research university located in Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It is known for being country's center of excellence in the health sciences, including health professional education, training, and research. It is the oldest of the seven constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System, even predating the founding of UP by three years. Originally established on December 1, 1905 as the Philippine Medical School and later called as the UP College of Medicine and Surgery on June 10, 1907. It was renamed as University of the Philippines Manila in 1983.

UP Manila administers and operates the Philippine General Hospital, the largest medical center and the national referral center for health in the Philippines. The university is also the home of the National Institutes of Health. Its 14 hectare campus occupies two large city blocks and it contains pre-war heritage buildings and structures built during the American Period designed by American Architect William E. Parsons, which were declared by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines as historical landmarks.

Since 2001, the College of Medicine and the College of Nursing has been recognized as Centers of Excellence by the Commission on Higher Education.

5. University of the Philippines Visayas (Visayas)

The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV or UP Visayas) is a public research university in the Philippines. A constituent university of the University of the Philippines system, it teaches management, accountancy, marketing, economics, chemistry, applied mathematics and physics, marine science education and research, fisheries, and aquaculture. It offers regional studies programs on the preservation and enrichment of the Visayan cultural heritage.

UP Visayas has three campuses--Miagao, Iloilo City, and Tacloban—with Miagao being the main campus with its central administration offices. The University of the Philippines Cebu College was part of UP Visayas but it separated in September 2010, after being declared an autonomous unit. Most of the students of the university are drawn from the Visayas and the Visayan linguistic groups. Many of the leaders of the Visayas graduated from UPV or its predecessor institutions. As of 2007, the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines awarded four National Centers of Excellence and Development to UPV including Fisheries (UPV-Miagao), Marine Science (UPV-Miagao), and Biology(UPV-Miagao).

6. De La Salle University (Metro Manila)

De La Salle University (Filipino: Pamantasang De La Salle) (also referred to as DLSU or La Salle) is a Roman Catholic, Lasallian research university located in Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was established in 1911 by De La Salle Brothers as the De La Salle College in Nozaleda Street, Paco, Manila with Br. Blimond Pierre FSC serving as its first director. The educational institution moved to its present location on September 21 to facilitate the increase in enrollment. DLSU was granted university status in February 1975, is the oldest constituent of De La Salle Philippines (DLSP), a network of 17 Lasallian institutions was established in 2006 to replace the De La Salle University System.

The university started as a boys' elementary and high school. In 1920 it began offering a two-year Associate in Arts Commerce program, which was later discontinued in 1931 in favour of a Bachelor of Science in Commerce programme. DLSU currently offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate degree programmes through its seven colleges and one school specializing in varied disciplines, including business, engineering and liberal arts.

DLSU is identified by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a "Center of Excellence" in six of its programmes, and a "Center of Development" in 3 of its programmes. The university is also among the 40 institutions granted autonomous status by CHED as of 2010. Likewise, it is the first of the only two institutions granted the highest-level accreditation (Level IV) by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). The university ranks 151-160th and 601-650th in the 2013 Asian University Rankings and 2013 World University Rankings, respectively, published by Quacquarelli Symonds.

The university is a member of several international university associations including the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and International Association of Universities (IAU) as well as local organizations such as the South Manila Inter-Institutional Consortium.

7. University of Santo Tomas

The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, or simply the University of Santo Tomas (UST), is a private, Roman Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on 28 April 1611 by Miguel de Benavides, Archbishop of Manila, it has the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines and in Asia, and is one of the world's largest Catholic universities in terms of enrollment found on one campus. The university is run by the Order of Preachers. UST is the only university to have been visited by three popes four times: once by Pope Paul VI on 28 November 1970, twice by Pope John Paul II on 18 February 1981 and 13 January 1995, and once by Pope Francis on 18 January 2015. The patron of the university is St. Thomas Aquinas, while St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patroness.

The university is composed of several autonomous faculties, colleges, schools and institutes, each conferring undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate degrees, and the basic education units. Several degree programs have been accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development. Moreover, it was awarded with an Institutional Accreditation by the CHED through the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines. In December 2013, the university was recognized to have the highest number of accredited programs in the country by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities' Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA).

Prominent Thomasians include saints, Philippine presidents, heroes, artists, scientists, professionals, and religious figures, who have figured prominently in the history of the Philippines. The athletic teams are the Growling Tigers, who are members of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and are consistent winners of the Overall Championship. The university campus is listed as one of the most viable sites in the Philippines to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

8. Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

The University of the City of Manila (Filipino: Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila) is a city government funded and tuition-free local university situated inside the historic walled area of Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. It was established on June 19, 1965 and opened on July 17, 1967 to 556 scholars, all coming from the top ten percent of graduates of Manila's public high schools.

PLM holds the distinction of being: the first tertiary-level institution in the country to offer tuition-free education; the first university-funded solely by a city government; and the first institution of higher learning in the country to have its official name in Filipino.

From its first enrollment record of 556 freshman scholars coming from the top ten percent of the graduating classes of Manila's twenty-nine public high schools, total semestral enrollment has grown to an average of 10,000. The lone college in its earliest beginning has sprung to 12 colleges, seven graduate, two professional schools, and a score of research and specialized centers, including a teaching hospital, an entrepreneurial center, and an integrated learning center for toddlers. In addition, it maintains a comprehensive distance education and open university program for thousands of community health workers and public administrators in different regions nationwide, with affiliations and recognition from various national and international organizations and institutions.

Based on a study using cumulative data from 1999 to 2003 showed that during the said period PLM was among the top five schools nationwide in terms of board exam passing rate. In the same study, it was one among three public universities in the top ten category.

9. Ateneo de Davao University (Davao)

Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) is a private teaching, service, and research university run by the Society of Jesus in Davao City in the Philippines. It was established in 1948, and is the seventh Ateneo opened by the Jesuits in the Philippines. The university has five undergraduate schools, namely the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business and Governance, School of Engineering and Architecture, School of Education and the School of Nursing. The graduate programs are under these units as well. The College of Law is a separate unit within the university. The university also runs a grade school and high school.

The University was granted "Institutional Accreditation" by the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities in which only six universities in the country were given such recognition, and was also granted Autonomous Status by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines). In terms of university rankings, Ateneo de Davao University placed 201st in years 2009 and 2010 and belonged to the 301+ bracket and 251-300 bracket (5th in the country) in 2012 and 2014 respectively according to the rankings done by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on top universities in Asia. Also, the Ateneo de Davao joined the roster of world universities in the 2012 QS World University Subject Ranking for English Language and Literature wherein it landed in the 101-150 bracket. In the national rankings done by the Commission on Higher Education and the Professional Regulation Commission based on cumulative data from 1991 to 2001 of average passing rates in all courses of all Philippine colleges and universities in licensure examinations, Ateneo de Davao University was judged the 5th top university in the country. Locally, AdDU emerged as the top school in Davao City according to Davao Eagle Online which was based on number of PRC board topnotchers in 2013.

10. University of San Carlos (Cebu City)

The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially shortened to San Carlos) is a private, Catholic and research university in Cebu City which is administered and managed by the Society of the Divine Word since 1935. It provides basic education (Montessori academy, grade school, and junior high school), senior high school, undergraduate and graduate studies higher education.

USC is among the biggest university in Cebu City with all 5 campuses combined. It is ranked top five nationwide and top one in the Visayas and Mindanao with the most number of Centers of Excellence (8 COEs) and Centers of Development (12 CODs) awarded and recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as of March 2016. USC is also one of the selected few universities in the country ranked by the International/World Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Rating among the Top 350 Universities in Asia as of 2016 (USC is the lone Cebu based university and one of the universities in the Visayas and Mindanao that were cited by QS as among internationally recognized universities in the Philippines). The university is certified with International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001:2015 Quality Management System for Institutional and Student Support Services as of September 2017 by Technischer Uberwachungsverein (TUV) Sud Asia Pacific.

USC's claims as the "oldest educational institution or school in Asia" has been a long time subject of disputes from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila who on the other hand claims to be the "oldest university in Asia".

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